Bell Works Gets First Major Tenant

Holmdel, NJ - The first major tenant has been named to Bell Works.

WorkWave, a software technology company that currently operates out of Neptune, will move to Bell Works, reports the Asbury Park Press. It will move its more than 100 employees there and occupy a space of more than 70,000 square feet.

To say Holmdel is eager to see Bell Works occupied once again is an understatement: The 2-million-square-foot building, the length of three football fields, once housed the storied Bell Labs, a leader in American science and technology throughout World War II and the post-war period. In its 44-year heyday, more than 6,000 engineers and scientific researchers worked there at a time. Its said the invention of the cell phone and groundbreaking theories on the Big Bang hypothesis were all developed at Bell Labs.

However, with the federally-mandated breakup of the Bell System, the sprawling complex was vacated and put up for sale in 2005. In 2012 Holmdel declared the site as an "Area in Need of Redevelopment." Its current owner, Somerset Development, envisions the campus as a Jersey Shore technology hub, with a hotel, wellness spa and public library on site. However, the lagging economy and competition from nearby New York City means progress has been slow.

"We took the risk and said, 'We're going to go first,'" WorkWave CEO Chris Sullens told the APP. "And hopefully that provides the momentum to bring in everybody else."

At least six smaller companies have already signed leases at Bell Works, most of them technology companies. A small cafe also operates on the site.

Photo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bell_Labs_Holmdel.jpg/Wikimedia Commons